Editor, The Times:
It was with great amusement that I read the letters to the editor from Wes Morden and Patrick Stanley in the June ll/12 edition of the Times. However, the editorial by Keith McNeill leaves a lot to be desired. In my opinion, it does not deserve a rebuttal. However, there are some statements in his editorial that I must address but I will save that for last.
First quote: Global warming causes: man or nature or both. Wes, Wes, Wes! I thought I suggested that you go high into the mountains to meditate for a year! Anyway, I have to say that yours was a great letter except for the part where you turned bright orange and ranted about Oil Can Harper. Rumour has it that the Liberals and the NDP want to unite to fight the Conservatives. One wonders who would be the leader. In provincial politics, the leader of the NDP was a Liberal, and the leader of the Liberals was an NDP! I guess the logical candidate would be Elizabeth May. God help our country! With such a mix of orange, red, and green, we would have a party that looked like a frog in a blender. Also, I really appreciated your June 4 remembrance letter about Mr. Roy Cragg. I am quite sure Mr. Cragg would be chuffed to see you pick up the torch on his behalf, so, because the pen name Blackpool Dali Lama was not really working out, the pen name Village Idiot would be much more appropriate!
Second quote: Leave the corn for food, not fuel. Patrick, thank you for your words of encouragement and for your offer of books to get me up to speed. However, I will have to decline since I am just too busy trying to save the world. I noticed that your letter twice mentioned that I missed the boat. I wonder if it ever occurred to you that maybe that was a boat ride that I did not want to take.
That brings me back to the editorial by Keith McNeill. I take great offence to being called a global warming denier. When I went on a rant about Gore and Suzuki, it was not because they are environmentalists. It was because of their carbon footprints. If you talk the talk then you walk the walk. The days of do what I say and not what I do are long gone. To say that the lifestyle of people such as Gore is not relevant and you do not care makes you just as negligent as they are. If you had taken the time to read my letter, you would have noticed that I am just as much in favour of cleaning up the environment as anyone else is, and that global warming started when man got up on his hind legs and dragged his knuckles through the snowdrifts. So you see, Mr. Editor, I am not a global warming denier.
I loved your paragraph about reputable scientists. You stated that there is a real possibility of the end of civilization by the end of this century. There are no guarantees that the predictions for catastrophe will come true, but neither are there any guarantees that they will not. I make two points to the SFU scientists:
1. I hope nobody had to pay for the paper you wrote.
2. Do not quit your day job!
In closing, I must comment about the boat ride I did not want to take. You see, Mr. Editor, you are not on the Titanic. That was l00 years ago. The ocean is not so full of icebergs because they are going too (global warming, you know). Unfortunately, Captain Keith is at the helm. Full speed ahead on the ship of fools.
Jim Lamberton
The Rambling Man
